St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1887-06-02
G1e Ga1eduniam.
A VISIT TO SALT LAKE CITY.


ply homes blighted by the curse of po-
lygamy and of bloody crimes commit
ted in the name of the Church. His
tory repeats itself and the union of the
church and state in the Mormon king
dom has produced a state of affairs
which demands the attention of the
keenest statesman and the ablest
Judge. A lady who for IL years has
resided in this city said to the writer
that MormOnism was never so strong
" intrenched as it is to-day, and still
power to 200, 900 people who take Oaths
against it, and openly no less than Sc
cretly, defy its laws and decry its pow
er. "This state of things" says Kate
Field, "would be impossible in any
other country but ours, which is so big
and so heterogeneous, and so deeply
engaged in money getting as to he in
capable of looking at the mormon or
any other problem from statesman's
point of view. The best of marshals
may pursue and capture the last polyg
amist and bring him to justice before
the ablest of judges, yet the worst OF
Mormon evils will go on just as long
as the church has temporal power"
When Brigham Young and his de-
luded followers reached the SUBMITS
of the Wahsatch and saw the fertile
Al. ls1lrn AIanT,
leader when he told them that God had
commanded that their city should be
built here. This was in July, 1047.
The site was we'll chosen, and the city
was built. The snowy SUBMITS of the
Wahsatch range lie toward the setting
sun, while the Salt Lake, U tab Lake
and the valley of the Jordan are in the
opposite direction. The MOrmOns say
that the Jordan valley lies between
the Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee,
their fOndness for Scripture terms pre-
senting "a strange contrast to the inter
probation of the divine commandments.
Besides being a great sinner, Brig
ham Young was practical man, and
he knew how to lay Out a city better
than most "Gentiles." The streets
were staked out 10 rods wide, crossing
ttCH O|hOI db IIShO NhSiOo' VI v
streams of water were conveyed
through every street, and for forty
years this city of the Latter Day Saints
has been noted for it's slightly location
and beauty. Every little hamlet has
an attractive exterior whatever may
be the woes and heart pangs inside.
1t has now a population of 10000, OF
which one third are Gentiles and
strongly opposed to the tenets of the
Mormon church. In fact the MOrmOns
are so fearful lest they may be routed
by their enemies that recent "reve-
latiOn" has been declared that Nor
mon must not sell any real estate to IL
Gentle.
The buildings which deserve brief
mention are the temple, the tabernacle
and the endowment house. The tenn
pie is square granite building which
has already cost several million dollars
and will not be completed until 1891,
when the MormOns believe Christ will
appear to them and should the Right
eOus Judge come then, how truly could
he utter in Salt Lake City that reprOOf
to the Pharisees: "Woe unto you,
Scribes and Pharisees, hypOcrites for
We compass sea and land to make one
y
make him twO-fOld more the child of
hell than yourselves"
Surrounded by the same high wall,
and only few feet away, is the taber-
nacle, i'll some respects the most re-
markable building in the world.
"Imagine an ellipitical dome, shingled,
set upon a circle of piers about 20 feet
high, and you will have an image of
this extraordinary building" 1t is $50
feet long but so perfect are its acOus-
tic properties that the dropping of II
pin near the pulpit was distinctly
heard 10y one of our party standing at
the other end of the empty auditorium.
Once entering the building the first
question is, "What supports the rOofP'
Truly, there are no pillars inside, but
instead there is nine feet between the
ceiling and the roof completely inter
laced with single and double truss
work. The building will hold about
10000 people.
In one corner of the temple yard is Il
small twO-story adobe building called
the endowment house. 1t might more
properly be called the entrance to the
lower region and Dante's inscription,
leave hope behind, all We who enter
hOAOj OuSuG W Dc plhOOU ONCi us
doors. Here the rites of baptism, mar
riage and admission to the church are
performed, all in the name of the Lord,
and volumes have been written upon
the blasphemous rites and cruelties
praeticed therein. At one stage of the
ceremonies Satan appears to the newly
married husband and wife, who are
impersOnating Adam and Eve, and
tries to tempt;the "saints" but is fright
ened away by the voice of the Lord.
The rites of admission to the church
last the entire day and are as senseless
as they are blasphemOus.
The "Co-op store" is living testi-
mOnial to the practical workings of CO.
operation, especially when backed by
the church. Brigham Young, who was
Influenced as much by the almighty
dollar" as he was by revelations"
started the store to replete the church
treasury, and how he succeeded can be
seen when one learns that the store
has an annual income of over $5,O00,-
600. In fact, if it was not for the anti
MOrmOns in Utah no Gentle merchant
could make a living, as all the Nor
mons trade at the Scoop store" over
which is the sign, "Holiness to the
Lord" A Gentle paper makes things
pretty lively for the church sometimes,
while the hotels are all run by anti
MOrmOns, the Metropolitan being the
best hotel between Denver and San
Francisco.
Don't ask me the remedy for this
awful social status that exists in one
state and five territories, for | don't
know, nor has congress as yet had a
revelation" President Cleveland's
newly appointed governor, Mr.. West,
is an anti-MOrmOn, and people are be
ing sentenced to the penitentiary ev-